The Aftermath
by Susycreamcheese
Summary: Two years after Meteor was destroyed Vincent still hunts in vain for Lucrecia. Rated R.
1. Default Chapter

The Aftermath

A Final Fantasy VII Fanfic

By Susycreamcheese

The game of Final Fantasy VII is owned by SquareSoft.

Rated R

Chapter One

It had been two years since the Lifestream had destroyed Meteor and Sephiroth and Shin-Ra had both disappeared from the face of the planet. Vincent presently stood outside the town of Nibelheim. He had searched the world over in vain for Lucrecia.

Of course, immediately following the disbanding of Avalanche, Vincent had journeyed back to the cavern beneath the waterfalls, where he had discovered Lucrecia previously when he had been with Cloud and company, but of course she was gone.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, he refused to accept that she was dead. He realized it might be denial, but he wasn't dead and look at all that he had been through. Why would she necessarily have died? He strongly believed that the Jenova in his ladyfriend would not only have kept her alive, but also fairly youthful appearing as it had him.

Vincent had constantly traveled the world over for the last two years, never staying in one spot longer than to earn enough money to move on. He had developed quite a repertoire of work experience; he had done everything inexplicably enough from short order cook to private body guard. It was one such job opportunity that he had just left.

It was two months ago to this very day that he had stood in the center of Dio's luxurious living room at Gold Saucer and was interviewed for the job by a filthy rich middle aged woman, who was Dio's minority partner in the enterprise. Despite being in her mid-forties, Vincent noticed the woman appeared extremely well preserved. Money can do that, he mused.

The lady in question had shoulder length blonde hair cut in a page boy that fit her oval face perfectly. She appeared to have sparkling blue eyes, but those can be purchased through the use of contacts and hardly anyone can tell the difference these days. Owning a pretty little mouth, the woman's figure promised a substantial bust line beneath her clothing, unless it was padded which Vincent greatly doubted after he noticed the natural jiggle she demonstrated that accompanied not wearing a bra.

"Have you done this before?" his prospective employer asked.

"Yes, many times," was the dark-haired man's laconic response.

"Can you give me an example?" the woman asked rather scornfully.

"Well, Mrs. Harrison," Vincent began.

"Please call me Jessica," the middle aged blonde requested.

"Ok, Jessica," the man with the red cape answered rather sarcastically. "I was body guard for President Reeve for third months last fall."

Dio excitedly broke into the conversation. "You were the mysterious man who saved Reeve's life so many times!"

If Vincent's face could be readily seen, it would have been noted that he was blushing somewhat, because he was always uncomfortable with compliments. Vincent just nodded in the affirmative.

"You're hired," Jessica spoke enthusiastically.

Dio went to stand up believing the morning's business had been concluded. He didn't know Vincent very well.

"Wait a minute," growled the dark souled man. "What's the job? I haven't said I would take it yet."

Jessica appeared stunned, while Dio broke out in a laugh. "A man after my own heart," he said boisterously. "Don't take crap from nobody."

Vincent glanced at the loud former strongman. It was all he could do not to sneer at the former Shin-Ra employee. If he hadn't needed the money so badly, he wouldn't have thought twice about turning them down.

Dio continued, "There's some members of the Midgar syndicate, who want Jessica to sell them her shares of Gold Saucer. They have made a number of attempts to purchase them and I believe the next thing they will try is to assassinate her."

"What do you care?" the man with the red cape callously demanded.

"If somebody gets to her, then I'll be next."

Vincent nodded thoughtfully. That sounded truthful, he thought.

"Okay, I'll take the job. Room and board, and two thousand gil a week," the dark-haired man demanded.

Jessica attempted a counter offer. "Room and board and a thousand gil a week."

"Fifteen hundred and pay it or I walk," Vincent replied harshly.

Dio exclaimed, "Deal!" so quickly, it left misgivings in Vincent's heart. Oh well, too late for that, he thought.

In the few weeks that Vincent worked there, he saved Jessica's life a number of times sending five would be assassins to an early grave via the barrel of Death Penalty. The dark-haired man had been able to save a good amount of money and would like to have remained there longer, but unfortunately the woman in question came to believe that her body guard should also share her bed.

Vincent, while finding the woman to be attractive, drew the line at being thought a gigolo and had to move on. He now found himself uselessly retracing his steps chasing an ultimately unreachable dream, but hadn't discovered anything else better to do with his life.

As he stepped into Nibelheim, he was aurally accosted by the discordant voice of Cid Highwind calling out, "Look who's here, everybody. It's Dracula!"


	2. The Aftermath - Chapter Two

The Aftermath

A Final Fantasy VII Fanfic

By Susycreamcheese

The game of Final Fantasy VII is owned by SquareSoft.

Rated R

Chapter Two

Vincent attempted to ignore Cid's inappropriate vocal outburst by scowling at him and then striding by him.

"Hey, wait a minute, Valentine!" Cid protested. "Aren't you at least gonna say hello? I knew you were cold, but this is ridiculous."

Vincent gazed at him with a look that had been known to paralyze lesser creatures and people of low I.Q. "What do you want?" he demanded in a low, but hostile sounding tone.

"I want you to say hello," explained the pilot.

"Hello," the cloaked man retorted flatly, attempting to walk past Cid again. The blond-haired man placed his strong hand on Vincent's shoulder halting his forward  progress. Vincent scowled at the former Shin-Ra pilot.

"Oh, knock it off, Valentine! You don't scare me with that bullshit."

The dark-haired man allowed some of the tension to flow from his body and he almost smiled for a second.

"Now, that's better," Cid praised. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"It's really not any of your business, but I'll tell you anyway," the man with the red cloak half snarled. "I'm just drifting, looking for work. Can I go now?"

"Not so fast," the blond pilot complained. "Now you're supposed to ask me what I'm doing here."

"But I don't care what you're doing here."

"Fake it," suggested Cid.

"Okay," Vincent spoke in a resigned voice. "What are you doing here?"

"I've met up with Red and we're searching for Cloud and Tifa."

"Tifa and Cloud are missing?" Vincent asked, greatly shocked.

"That's what I just said, or are you growing deaf in your old age?" the Captain grinned at Vincent.

"When did they go missing?" the dark-haired man demanded.

"Come on, we're in the tavern. I'll tell ya all about it after I get a drink in my hand."

As Vincent strided beside Cid as they crossed the town square, his mind was awhirl. He never had cared much for the blond warrior, but his favorite among his comrades had always been Tifa and Vincent was frightened for her. He feared the long arm of Shin-Ra would never be cut off.

Cid threw open the tavern door and Vincent immediately observed Nanaki sitting in the back. It always seemed passing strange to him to see what others thought of as a wild beast sitting in front of a table in a bar. Approaching the table, Vincent slightly bowed to his old friend. "Nanaki," he spoke acknowledging the fire cat.

"Vincent, how have you been, since last we met?" Nanaki asked, growling in his gravely voice.

"Fine," he answered tersely.

Bustling up to the table with two drinks in his hands, Cid exclaimed, "Sit down! You're attracting attention."

Vincent realized that Cid himself and certainly Nanaki being present in a tavern attracted more attention than he did, but he bit his tongue in hopes of shortening this entire conversation, so he could be on his way. There was obviously nothing here in terms of his search for Lucrecia. Vincent seated himself and Cid passed over his drink while sitting also.

"Cheers," Cid declared, while holding his drink up to Vincent.  Vincent just stared at him flatly.

"Still Mr. Personality, huh Vincent?" Cid inquired sarcastically.

"Just get on with it, or is that too much to ask?"

Nanaki spoke quickly hoping to forestall any further difficulties between the pilot and the cloaked man. He realized what they could be like when they became angry with each other. The big cat had witnessed some ugly scenes between the two men previously.

"Cloud and Tifa are missing."

"They're missing? What do you mean they're missing?" questioned Vincent in an incredulous tone.

"They're not where they're supposed to be, cloak boy," Cid sneered. "That's why we said they're missing."

Vincent totally ignored Cid and turned his attention to Nanaki. "How did you find this out?" he asked the large cat.

"As you know, Tifa insisted they settle back in the Midgar slums in order to help rebuild them. I was in Midgar in order to visit Aeris's shrine at the church and decided to drop in on them."

"Oh," Vincent breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought something had happened. They probably just went somewhere on a trip."

"Oh sure, cloak boy, they went to spend a week vacationing at Wutai," Cid suggested sarcastically.

"Quit calling me that," Vincent snarled.

"Oh ok, sorry," the pilot muttered, which was as much as an apology that one would ever receive from Cid.

Nanaki attempted to break the tension. "No one in the neighborhood knew anything of any plans they might have had to go anywhere and usually if they did go away for a day or so, Tifa would leave someone in charge of the bar. They really couldn't afford to have it closed, even for one day."

"Well, what's our plan?" inquired Vincent.

"Our?" Cid echoed. "Don't tell me you give a shit?"

Vincent managed to appear indignant. "I've always considered them my friends."

"You mean Tifa, don't you?" asked Cid, while raising an eyebrow.

Before Vincent could respond in quite possibly an angry manner, Nanaki explained, "We came here first, because this is their home town and we thought if they went anywhere to visit, it might be here. But we've been here over a day and nobody has seen or heard from them. So we've decided to go back to Midgar and look more closely in the other sectors."

"Okay," Vincent agreed. "When do we leave?"

"As soon as possible," Cid answered tersely for once.


	3. The Aftermath - Chapter Three

The Aftermath

A Final Fantasy VII Fanfic

By Susycreamcheese

The game of Final Fantasy VII is owned by SquareSoft.

Rated R

Chapter Three

Early the next morning the three former members of Avalanche set off for Midgar. Vincent certainly found his present mode of transportation via the Highwind to be far superior than his previous mode of transportation, although that still didn't mean he enjoyed it more. Vincent had never enjoyed air travel, and, in particular, found traveling with Cid extremely disquieting. Vincent observed that the crew was still made of Cid's former flunkies, God knew how he paid them.

Once the Highwind acquired lift and set its' course, Vincent left the bridge and wandered out on deck. Cid's boisterousness always got on his nerves. After a short while, Nanaki joined him.

"What is troubling you, old friend? And what were you really doing in Nibelheim? I know you didn't go there looking for work"

Vincent glanced at his old comrade in arms. Outside of Tifa, Nanaki was the only one he ever had much of a relationship with and that was probably based on what they had each suffered at the hands of Hojo than anything else.

Realizing his old friend was going to remain silent, Nanaki ventured, "Are you still searching for Lucrecia, Vincent?"

He nodded in the affirmative.

"Well, I wouldn't think to impose to suggest what you should do, it's your life," the large cat responded. "But don't you think after all this time it's become rather fruitless?"

There was probably no one else outside of Tifa, who could have spoken to Vincent in such a manner and not elicited an angry, sarcastic response. Instead he glanced at Nanaki and slightly nodded. "You might be right," he murmured. "But I feel as if I were to give up, I would be killing her myself and after all, I really don't have anything else I want to do right now. I just have to know one way or the other, or I can't move on in my mind and heart."

"I understand completely and I wish you luck."

"Thank you," Vincent answered formally and then turned and made his way back into the big airship. Discovering that Cid was still raising holy hell with his subordinates, Vincent drifted over to his usual spot while he was on the bridge, an area as far away as possible from Cid, where he would sit and induce a near hypnotic state through something markedly similar to transcendental meditation.

Nanaki brought him to consciousness when they were nearing Midgar. He awoke to observe Cid looking at him strangely, but there wasn't anything particularly new in that. But when he saw the expression of alarm on Nanaki's features, he felt compelled to ask, "What?"

"You were crying in your sleep and calling out for Lucrecia," the orange-colored cat answered.

"No, I wasn't," Vincent quickly contradicted, because it violently disagreed with the picture he had of himself inside his mind.

"Yes, you were, Bat boy," Cid affirmed.

Vincent glared at Cid, but suddenly felt moisture on his cheeks and reaching up with his good hand he felt tears. Vincent flushed greatly embarrassed, while Nanaki looked away and Cid returned to screaming instructions at his pilot.

Landing the Highwind in one of the many small airfields dotted around the suburbs, which had sprung up surrounding Midgar was no easy task, but Cid, who had taken over the controls, handled it with ease. They quickly decided to split up, investigate in different sectors and meet at Tifa's bar in the evening.

Nanaki entered Midgar through the way to Sector 5. He couldn't help, but notice immediately that a great deal of rebuilding in the sector had already occurred. President Reeve had proven to be a man of his word since rebuilding had been one of the biggest planks in his campaign for the high office.

Nanaki prowled everywhere in the sector looking for anything suspicious or out of place that might help lead him to understanding the disappearance of Cloud and Tifa. He also spoke with several people, who knew the couple but they knew nothing concerning their whereabouts.

Later in the day, Nanaki decided to travel to Aeris' house, where her foster mother had returned. She was delighted to see him and so was Marlene. The older woman informed him that Barret was currently at North Corel and she was watching over his daughter for him. She also said she hadn't heard anything at all about Tifa and Cloud.

After visiting for a short while, Nanaki thanked her for everything and explained he must be off. It was late in the afternoon, so he decided to go meet up with Cid and Vincent for the evening.

……….

Cid decided to travel to Sector 7. He asked everyone in the local neighborhood if they knew anything at all about their disappearance. To a person, he came up completely empty. People did agree with him that it was very unlike them to just disappear without letting others know of their plans.

Cid had been given a key to their residence by Tifa almost two years previously. The beautiful young woman had done it without Cloud's knowledge, just in case he ever again slipped back into his head, as he had done in the life stream and somehow managed to keep her prisoner in her own home.

After Cid let himself into their home, he prowled around the house looking here and there, not being really certain what he was searching for. He sat down and read some of Tifa's letters, but really didn't learn anything of import except that Yuffie had finally met someone, who could actually stand being around her and they were thinking of getting married. _God damn_! thought Cid. _What next_?

Cid next searched through their bureau drawers looking for any sort of a clue. Finding himself to be in Tifa's underwear drawer, he lifted up one of her bras. _My God_! _This is unbelievable_! _That Cloud is a lucky man_!

When the former Shin-Ra pilot did not discover anything of importance in the drawers, he continued to scour the room in vain. He ended his search by looking inside the piano. Nothing there either.

Leaving their house, Cid unlocked the front door of the bar and searched very intensively in there also with the same result – zilch. He then procured someone of trust to run the bar for the rest of the day. Cid then left sector 7 and headed toward sector 8.

……….

Vincent traveled to sector 6. Walking through the once totally demolished playground that had since been repaired to its' original condition. Vincent found himself brooding over the disappearance of Tifa. He felt as though Cloud could take care of himself, but he worried over Tifa knowing she seemed to attract the wrong kind of element, himself included.

This was also the product of having to travel to Wall Market. Wall Market always caused Vincent to feel very uneasy. It was because of the propensity of vice in the area starting with the _Honeybee Inn_, where just about every perversion known to mankind could be catered to. That gym had also always had an unsavory feel to it.

Vincent shook his head to clear his thoughts. He realized he needed to be concentrating on the task at hand and not worrying about somebody else's sexual hang-ups. As he wandered through the area seeking information concerning the missing Tifa and Cloud, he also kept his eyes and ears open about anything concerning Lucrecia.

After looking practically everywhere and also noticing that the way up the wall to the Shin-Ra Corporate Tower was still open, Vincent decided to snoop around the old mansion of Don Corneo, the old Shin-Ra lackey who Rude had so carefully blown away over two and a half years ago. Vincent idly wondered for the umpteenth time what Reno and Rude, the former Turks, were up to. He hadn't heard anything about them in some time. But he realized that, whatever happened, they were survivors.

_Yeah_, he thought rather bitterly. _Them and the cockroaches_.

Stepping into the yard, past the open gate and tumbled down fencing that encircled the wrecked edifice, Vincent walked up to the front door. _Locked_! Vincent walked around the structure peering into the windows, most of which were boarded up. He finally found one that was partially opened and he climbed in, careful to not damage his prized cloak on anything.

Stepping into the room and glancing around, he observed the entire place appeared completely destroyed, although he recognized that someone had been in there recently, because he saw some fairly new looking empty pizza boxes. _Hojo's Famous Pizzas_, he snorted. He didn't care whose great marketing idea that was, he still thought it was in extremely poor taste.

Vincent walked through the main room on the first floor and decided to take a look in the basement. He took out 'Death Penalty' because he was uncertain as to what he might encounter in the dark in the basement and he wanted to be prepared. Pausing a second to get his bearings at the head of the long staircase, he flipped the wall switch automatically by force of habit and almost fell down the steps when the room was suddenly flooded with bright light!

_What the hell_?! Vincent thought. _Who would be paying the electric bill and for what reason_? His mind naturally, automatically thought of Shin-Ra and/or the Turks and he immediately redoubled his vigilance.

Vincent continued down the stairs, but no longer was creeping, but on the contrary, he stepped lively because if anyone was down there, they certainly knew someone was coming. Upon reaching the basement flooring and after searching everywhere, Vincent realized he was truly alone and hadn't discovered anything of consequence except for the extremely disturbing items he was now holding in his hands.

_Now what the hell has happened here_? Vincent thought, as he gazed down upon the objects he had discovered – Tifa's white blouse and black skirt!


	4. The Aftermath Chapter Four

The Aftermath

A Final Fantasy VII Fanfic

By Susycreamcheese

The game of Final Fantasy VII is owned by SquareSoft.

Rated R

Chapter Four

A feeling of total dread and anxiety washed over Vincent, as he gazed down upon Tifa's outfit that he was holding in his hands. Tucking her skimpy outfit away inside his shirt, (he wasn't certain why he had done that, if he needed it for some sort of proof or evidence that some misfortune had befallen her or he wanted it in order to present her with it the next time they met, or he just couldn't stand to thoughtlessly leave it lying there) Vincent returned his attention to the basement room again, this time looking at everything with a much keener eye.

He thought he found evidence of several drops of blood, but without a forensic kit he had no real way of knowing what it might be. Vincent realized the police force in Wall Market was practically nonexistent, because of the various and assorted businesses, which offered them bribes to look the other way. It would be next to impossible to motivate them to investigate a crime that might never have taken place; at least not by their definition of a crime.

Certainly many young women disappeared in Wall Market and often would emerge in the service of such places, as the _Honeybee Inn_. In fact, the _Honeybee Inn_ was one of the nicer places they could be shunted to. There were many topless bars and several houses of prostitution also. It was not a mere coincidence that Shin-Ra lackey Don Corneo, the pervert and pedophile, had had his mansion located here.

His mansion had been only one of the many places pretty women could disappear to in Wall Market. Vincent realized that all of these places were now going to have to be searched in their quest to locate Cloud and Tifa, since he had discovered her clothing here. Just the thought of having to do this caused him to emotionally cringe. Vincent had more than enough intelligence and intellectual honesty to realize his reaction toward vice was due to his feeling nastily and mysteriously drawn to it.

He abhorred that in himself and he would go far out of his way to avoid anything resembling in the slightest a sexually aberrant situation, because underneath it all, Vincent was a highly moral individual and a man of high standards. Vincent believed these feelings were, once again, something that was borne of the hideous experiments that he went through at the hands of Professor Hojo. At least, all he knew for certain was he was not like this before that time.

Vincent vacated the old broken down ruin and walked down in the middle of the teeming crowds to the _Honeybee Inn_. Striding up to the doorman, Vincent demanded entrance.

"Sir," the doorman responded. The _Honeybee Inn_ employee looked to be a rough customer in his own right, standing well over six feet and weighing in the neighborhood of two hundred and twenty pounds. 

"Do you have your membership card available, sir?" he inquired. The doorman was wisely practicing politesse not caring for the looks of Vincent at all.

"A card?!" the dark-haired man echoed. "Of course not," Vincent answered in a tone that indicated he thought it ridiculous to think he would be a member of the _Honeybee Inn_.

"Well, then sir," the doorman continued to speak, "I can't let you enter without a membership card."

"How can I get one?!" the morose man inquired in a demanding tone.

The doorman smiled slightly at Vincent, which was to prove to be his undoing. "The _Honeybee Inn_ is presently full and no membership cards are being issued at this time."

Anger flashed inside of Vincent and he clutched the front of the doorman's shirt with his surgically altered hand, which had the strength of a hundred men in it and easily lifted the minor giant completely off the ground.

"Don't you toy with me!" Vincent screamed at him, his anger being completely out of line in regards to the actual reality of the situation. The doorman wiggled in Vincent's grasp attempting to get free and when that didn't succeed, he placed his two hands on Vincent's arm and used his strength to the utmost in an attempt to force his tormenter to have to lower him to the ground, but to no avail.

Finally he was reduced to pleading, "Sir, sir, please put me down. You can hold me up forever, but we still have no membership cards presently."

Something suddenly snapped inside of Vincent and he finally realized the futility of it all and dropped the man back on the ground. The doorman staggered to maintain his balance and not fall.

Vincent wrapped himself in his red cloak and strode away without a word, realizing he had handled that as poorly as possible outside of actually killing the man. _Cid will have to gain admittance. I will be unable to_, realized the dark-haired man. He abhorred the thought of having to ask Cid for assistance, but it couldn't be helped. Certainly Nanaki wouldn't be allowed a membership card, although he could help Vincent search the topless bars.

_I hope it doesn't warp his teenage sensibilities_, Vincent thought with a slight smile adorning his usually serious features for a second or two, in a very rare burst of humor. Glancing around to see if anyone was following him since, after all, he had been in Don Corneo's old mansion, and not only was there evidence that someone had been there for more than a few minutes, as evidenced by the empty pizza boxes, there was also the matter of Tifa's outfit mysteriously being there, he didn't see anyone paying any particular attention to him. It almost appeared that Vincent was also attempting to discover if anyone had seen him smiling. After all, he did have a certain reputation to uphold. He realized that his rep alone kept most people from bothering him and that's the way he liked it.

Returning in his mind to the subject of the search for Tifa, the dark-haired man realized he and Cid could split the search of the houses of prostitution, although underneath it all Vincent actually thought the whole thing would be a exercise in futility. The morose man just had a gut feeling that Tifa was not anywhere in Wall Market, because no one had heard anything and there was just no way that somebody as dynamic as Tifa Lockheart could be kept a secret for very long. _And where the hell is Cloud_? Vincent wondered.

……….

Cid ran into some old friends, in fact they were some very old friends as it turned out. Men he wasn't even certain were still alive after all this time. Men he used to test pilot with. When they invited him to quaff a couple of cold ones at the local establishment at the end of their working day, he jumped at the opportunity to be off his feet for awhile. He just wasn't used to pounding the streets anymore. He was still an air jockey, Cid realized; even now.

After everyone had seated themselves with a brew of their choice, Cid asked, "So what are you all up to? Not doing anything for Shin-Ra, are you?" The older pilot was reacting to the consistent rumors that Shin-Ra was not dead, but alive and well somewhere in the underground presently.

"No," Jenkins Crowley, a tall thin, dark-haired man of indeterminate age, replied with a bark of laughter. "Not hardly, we're helicopter pilots for President Reeve and other members of his cabinet."

President Reeve, huh?" Cid replied. "What's he like to work for?" the blond one-time astronaut asked, thinking back to the stuffed Toysaurus with the talking cat that used to represent the rather flaky personality of the Reeve of two years ago.

"He's real good, surprisingly enough," answered Bosley Thomas, a redheaded pilot a few years older than Cid.

"And he's very fair with us," interjected Jackie Jackson, a raven-haired  younger man, who Cid knew only slightly.

"Well, it sounds like a good gig," Cid commented.

"Except when we have things to do like tomorrow," declared Bosley, causing Jackson to suddenly glare at the redheaded pilot for speaking out of turn in his opinion.

"It's ok," Jenkins answered for Thomas. "We can trust Cid. We've known him a long time and I'm positive he is loyal to President Reeve's new government. He hates Shin-Ra more than we do, if that's possible."

"That I do," agreed Cid, taking another draw from his beer. "So what's going on tomorrow?" the blond haired pilot asked.

"We're going to the North Cave," Bosley answered sounding depressed and worried at the same time.

"The North Cave!" Cid excitedly echoed. "What the hell for?"

"Ours is not to reason why, ours is just to do or die," Bosley recited rather tonelessly.

"Oh, give me a break, Bos" complained the younger pilot. "It's not that bad," Jackie continued.

Jenkins responded, "You've never been there. You have no right to tell us what it is until you've seen it for yourself. You tell him, Cid"

Jackson's good looking features showed more than a little frustration on them, as he riposted, "Yeah, you tell me Cid."

"The North Cave is a unremitting hell hole and I can think of only one reason for going there."

"Sephiroth," Bosley simply said.

"Sephiroth," Cid agreed ominously.


	5. The Aftermath Chapter Five

The Aftermath

A Final Fantasy VII Fanfic

By Susycreamcheese

The game of Final Fantasy VII is owned by SquareSoft.

Rated R

Chaper Five

Nanaki arrived in Sector 7 and, nosed around some, literally sniffing out any possible direction that Cloud and Tifa could have set out on. He ended up just being bombarded with a cacophony of different odors and smells that eventually led him in a circle.

Nanaki finally gave it up for a lost cause and traveled to Tifa and Cloud's bar. Pushing the door open slightly with his stout, he took a quick peek inside. Not seeing either Cid or Vincent, Nanaki did not go inside. He had experienced some bad situations in bars when prejudiced drunks took exception to his presence and he had since learned the value of discretion.

Nanaki decided to try next at Tifa and Cloud's house. Even though no one was there he discovered that Cid, perhaps foolishly, had left it unlocked, so he went inside and patiently sat down to wait.

Vincent arrived next and observed Nanaki waiting in the living room watching the evening news on the television. Upon Vincent's inquiring, Nanaki answered that he had learned nothing of value pertaining to the disappearance of Cloud and Tifa.

Vincent proceeded to tell him what he had learned at Don Corneo's former mansion. When he had finished explaining what he had learned, Nanaki asked, "What do you think this means?"

Vincent replied, "I'm not quite sure, but I'm worried that it might be either the remnants of the old Shin-Ra or the rebirth of a new one."

Nanaki's stomach rumbled and he glanced embarrassedly at the dark-haired man. "Excuse me," he entreated, "but I'm starving and I couldn't find anything in the refrigerator that wasn't spoiled, except some lemons and a box of baking soda."

Vincent sighed, but realized that Nanaki was still a growing boy who was going to need dinner. He instructed Nanaki, "Set the table and wash the dirty dishes and I'll go shopping for dinner."

Not waiting for a response from Nanaki, Vincent wrapped his red cloak around him in a swirl and stalked from the house leaving Nanaki sitting with his mouth agape. Cid returned a short while later and, upon entering the house, he smiled to himself when he was immediately greeted by the sight of Nanaki sitting on a foot stool in front of the two kitchen sinks with a plate in his mouth. He was in the process of dipping the plate into a sink of soapy water and then holding it under running water in order to rinse it.

The veteran pilot couldn't quite decide what he thought about that, but he supposed since his animal comrade was using hot water and large doses of soap it wouldn't be too awfully unhygienic.

"Hi ya, kid!" Cid greeted.

Nanaki turned his head still holding a plate in his mouth. "Mmf," he said.

Cid laughed and crossed the kitchen and removed the plate from his friend's mouth.

"Thanks, Captain," Nanaki acknowledged. Cid glanced around the first floor of the house. "Where's cheerful anyway?"

Nanaki explained, "Vincent went out to obtain us some groceries in order to cook dinner."

"Oh, ho!" Cid laughed. "This I gotta see."

"Why do you always give Vincent such a hard time?" Cid's companion asked him.

"It's a dirty job but somebody has to do it," Cid quipped.

Vincent swept into the house holding several paper bags of groceries. Whether he had heard Nanaki and Cid, he gave no sign, but Nanaki was positive that Vincent had heard them. Vincent carried the groceries to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator and began putting food items into it. When he had finished with that task, he took the rest of the groceries and lay them on the counter. Seemingly oblivious to the opened mouth staring of his compatriots, Vincent set about preparing dinner.

He turned on several burners and leaned down and placed the oven on preheat. He then ran water into several pots and pans and placed them over on the counter to hold back for when he needed them in preparing the meal. The dark-haired man then took two huge cuts of steak out of the refrigerator and lay them on the broiler in the oven. Vincent then began the laborious task of making mashed potatoes from raw potatoes, rather than a pre-mix. He never skimped when it come to cooking.

"What's this?" Cid laughed uproarishly. Nanaki tsked at Cid and shook his head slightly which did absolutely nothing to calm the gleeful pilot.

Never turning his head from his task, Vincent answered in a low tone, "I am fixing dinner. You've had dinner before, haven't you?"

"Oh, ho!" Cid replied. "A touch, a definite touch. Yes, I've had dinner before, but never one fixed by you. What do you know about cooking?"

"I know everything about cooking," Vincent answered. Even though it pained him emotionally to have to answer to Cid, he did understand that both of his former comrades would naturally have questions pertaining to his cooking expertise. "I held a position as a short order cook for six months at a restaurant in Mideel," the dark-haired man explained, while glaring at the Captain as though daring him to say just one more word on the subject.

Cid, reading Vincent's mood correctly, changed the subject. "Let me tell you what I found out, while we anxiously await our cuisine," he said grinning wolfishly at Vincent. Cid proceeded to tell Nanaki and Vincent the upshot of his conversation with his former colleagues.

"Sephiroth!" Nanaki and Vincent both exclaimed.

The Captain nodded. "Yep, the old boy himself. I have no idea what any of this means, but I'm going to find out tomorrow."

"I will go too," Vincent dealt himself in.

"No, you won't cupcake!" Cid vehemently disagreed.

The dark-haired man flushed dangerously at him. Nanaki swished his tail quickly several times at Vincent as a signal to please calm down and was relieved when he observed Vincent relax somewhat.

"I can't take you with me, even if I wanted to, which I don't," the blond-haired man explained. "The only reason I'm getting to go is these are guys I used to work with way back when. And another thing, we have no idea what lies down there or what might happen. I might need you two to come rescue us."

With that said, Nanaki noticed Vincent had just relaxed his hands which had automatically curled into fists just a short while earlier. _ Wow, he is really wound tight, _ Nanaki thought. _ I have never seen him this bad. Is it Tifa? _ He idly wondered before returning his attention to Cid.

"I'm going to meet them topside at six tomorrow morning. I'm gonna take a PHS with me and you make sure you keep one on you at all times."

Vincent nodded his agreement solemnly while he continued to prepare the flounder for baking, after the steaks were finished. Vincent never ate red meat in an attempt to keep Chaos deep inside of him.

Nanaki proceeded to explain to Cid what Vincent had discovered at Don Corneo's.

"God damn it! What the hell is going on here?" Cid cursed.

"What are we gonna do?" Nanaki threw out to the room at large, while Vincent served the two plates of steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans with a small salad on the side. Vincent soon returned to the table with his fish, but with the other entrees that he had served the others.

Seating himself, the dark-haired man asked, "Nanaki, get the drinks, will you?"

"W - What?" Nanaki almost choked on a piece of steak he had been chewing.

Cid burst out laughing again. "Don't worry, old buddy," he said while standing up from the table. "Vince is developing a sense of humor in his old age." Crossing to the kitchen and bringing back two brews and a soda for Nanaki, Cid nodded at Vincent while handing him the beer. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you," the usually morose man replied, leaving both Cid and Nanaki uncertain as to what Vincent was displaying gratitude for - keeping his attempt at humor a secret or bringing him the beverage or both.

"Let's wait to talk about what we're going to do until we finish eating," directed the dark-haired man finally answering Nanaki's question of a few minutes before. Everyone apparently agreed as they fell into devouring their chow.

After they had finished their meal, Cid pushed his chair back from the table, loosened his belt in the classic move of the man who had eaten too much and then let rip with a giant belch. Nanaki laughed at the Captain while Vincent stared flatly at him.

"I stand corrected, you can cook," Cid admitted.

"I'm so happy," Vincent replied completely dead panned leaving Cid confused as to his true intent which was Vincent's idea the entire time. Standing up from the table, he announced, "I'm getting some shuteye. I suggest that while Cid travels to the North Cave, Nanaki should search some of the other sectors and I will begin the odious task of looking for Tifa among the riff raff at the topless bars." Not waiting for a reply, Vincent stalked upstairs for the evening. 


	6. The Aftermath Chapter Six

The Aftermath

A Final Fantasy VII Fanfic

By Susycreamcheese

The game of Final Fantasy VII is owned by SquareSoft.

Rated R

Chapter Six

The sun had already appeared when Vincent slowly descended the staircase from the upstairs bedrooms. He couldn't believe he had slept this late. He couldn't remember the last time that had occurred, but he realized he must have been more exhausted than he realized.

The dark-haired man appreciated the fact that he had felt completely relaxed for _once_ in the bed that he slept in. He knew that it was Tifa's bed and recognized it would have been only decent for him to have changed the bed linen before sleeping in her bed without her permission, but he had been unwilling to do so for reasons he didn't care to delve into. Vincent was able to recognize that it was Tifa' bed because he could smell her soap, perfume, shampoo, and other odors better left unmentioned. That was another thing that Hojo had left him – an especially acute sense of smell.

Stepping into the living room, Vincent observed that Nanaki had already begun his day. He was sitting in the living room eating from a large bowl of cereal and watching 'Good Day, Midgar' on television. Vincent didn't even want to speculate how Nanaki had gotten his own bowl of cereal, much less out to the living room, unless Cid had helped him before he left; but the dark-haired man doubted that because he thought Cid probably left hours ago.

As if divining his thoughts, Nanaki slightly turned his head during a commercial and greeted, "Good morning, my friend. Would you like some breakfast? The Captain left hours ago, I believe."

"No, thanks," Vincent answered gruffly. He wasn't much of a morning person. "I think I'll get some coffee," he muttered and he stalked into the kitchen.

……….

It was true that Cid had risen before dawn, drank two cups of instant coffee, smoked four cigarettes and was then ready to face the North Cave. Unlike a few years ago when Shin-Ra had allowed Midgar to deteriorate to horrible conditions, Reeve had the trains running to the top of the plate on a limited basis. _As long as I don't have to climb up the high tension line that Cloud told be about_, Cid thought to himself, as he strode through the almost completely empty predawn streets  of the inner city.

He realized he was lucky to be allowed along on this trip, but Cid idly wondered how fortunate he might feel later in the day if they met something or somebody they weren't expecting down in the cave.

It was still so early there was hardly anyone waiting to board the train with Cid. After buying his ticket and passing through the turnstiles, he waited on the platform for his transportation to arrive. Being careful not to stand too close to the edge, because even though there was no more war with Shin-Ra, there was still ordinary street crime, and he didn't want to get his pocket picked and then be pushed under the wheels of an arriving train.

The train he was to ride finally pulled into the platform and the doors opened. Cid wasn't surprised to observe that no one stepped off. The hour was an odd one. People who had been out on the town were already at home and it was still a bit too early for early morning workers to be commuting to work. Besides there were never many people who were traveling from the top of the plate to the slums. If they were traveling from up top, they were usually riding a train straight through to the suburbs.

The train he boarding was known as a 'milk run.' It traveled from the top through the different sectors down below and then back up to the top. Most people who rode it got off at a different sector than they had boarded rather than riding to the top. Cid realized he may have no company at all in his car and that was just alright with him.

Although he never would have admitted it to anyone, he was the tiniest bit paranoid. Cid had grown used to the more leisurely pace of Rocket Town in times of peace and hadn't visited Midgar one time since 'Spike' had run Sephiroth through. The few times he had visited with Cloud and Tifa they had come to Rocket Town.

The blond haired man stepped quickly into the car and sat on the nearest bench. Once the train had gotten underway he was slightly disappointed to discover he had gotten on the wrong route that would carry him out to the Midgar suburbs before returning to the top.

_Ah, what the hell_, he thought. _It_'_s just a few minutes out of the way and I left way too early anyway_.

Cid had left an hour earlier than he assumed he needed to because he wanted to avoid any unpleasant scenes with Vincent still wanting to travel with him. Cid didn't blame Vincent for that, but he realized that Vincent would definitely cause Cid's old friends to feel ill at ease; although there was another reason that Cid really wouldn't admit to himself because he would have to own that he actually gave a damn. And that he wouldn't do, not even to himself.

The other reason was if Shin-Ra was still active and they were in any way associated with the disappearance of Tifa and Cloud, it would behoove Vincent to not call attention to himself, which traveling to the North Cave with the President's helicopter pilots certainly would.

Leaving the city limits and stopping at the first suburban station, Cid was surprised to see Bosley Thomas, his redheaded friend, enter the train car he was sitting in. Of course, he never had any idea where any of his old associates were now residing.

If Cid was surprised, Bosley was happily flabbergasted to observe his old comrade sitting in the car he had just entered. "Cid!" he happily greeted. Bosley hated the trip up to the plate every morning that he worked because it was always so early there was never anyone to converse with and he never derived much enjoyment from reading the daily 'Midgar Journal.'

"Morning, Bosley," Cid replied. "I didn't know you lived way out here."

"Yep," Cid's old friend explained.. "Lived out here with my wife and later our daughter for well on to three years. But where are you staying?"

Cid responded, "Oh, I'm still in Rocket Town. I'll probably live and die there. You know what an old curmudgeon I am."

"Yeah," laughed the slightly older man. "Are you still with – I'm sorry I can't recall her name."

"Yeah," Cid sighed. "I'm still with Shera."

"Who?" asked Bosley, momentary puzzlement running across his features. "No, I mean your wife – what is her name? Eloise, isn't it?"

Even after all these years, the mere mention of her name struck Cid like a poleax. He had thought he was finally damn well over her, but he had just discovered he certainly wasn't. He still felt as bad as on the night she left him.

"No," Cid finally was able to find his voice. "No, I haven't been with Eloise for quite a while now."

Bosley observing the look on Cid's face realized he had just made a social blunder. "I'm sorry to hear that," murmured Cid's friend.

_Yeah_, _so am I_, Cid thought sardonically. The Captain never really understood one bit of it. He had thought everything was fine, smooth flying ahead. And he came home one night from a treacherous day of test piloting a new Shin-Ra brain storm that was later discarded as being too impractical and unsafe at any speed to find just a note waiting to welcome him home. Cid could still remember every word of it and why not? Each one had driven a nail into his heart.

It read: _Dear Cid_, _I'm dreadfully sorry to tell you in this fashion_, _but we both know I have always been a big coward at heart_. _It appears through no fault of your own that I have fallen out of love with you_. _I have tried to stick it out but to no avail_. _I just can't live with myself another day if I continue to live this lie_. _It_'_s not fair to me and it_'_s certainly not fair to you_. _I will care about you always_. _It would be fruitless for you to attempt to find me_. _I won_'_t return to you_. _With warm regards_, _Eloise_.

Bosley was desperate to pull Cid out of his immediate funk and asked, "What do you think we're gonna find, Cid? When we go down in the North Cave, I mean."

_How the hell should I know_? Cid thought to himself, but realizing his friend was just trying to help, he didn't speak it aloud.

"I don't know," Cid admitted. "But somebody does, or you all wouldn't be going down there."

"All I know is," admitted Cid's friend, "that the President received a late night visitor within the last week and after that he called us in and told us we needed to go down in the North Cave and investigate to make certain that all was well."

"I wonder who Reeve would trust that much?" Cid mused softly, almost to himself. A sudden thought struck Cid like a thunder bolt. _Could it have been Cloud and Tifa_? Cid wondered.

……….

Vincent set his empty coffee cup down on the kitchen counter and returned to the living room just in time to hear the announcer on 'Good Morning, Midgar' give the weather forecast as a heavy thunderstorm warning.

"Oh great," Vincent responded cynically, "Just what we need."

"But it doesn't rain under the plate," protested Nanaki.

"I wasn't thinking of us. I was thinking of Cid," Vincent replied.

Nanaki was quick to say, "Of course, I beg your pardon. I should have known."

"No, I beg yours," Vincent replied. "I had no right to come off at you in that manner."

_Well, not all his change has been bad_, Nanaki thought. _He couldn_'_t have done that two years ago_.

After Nanaki had carried his empty bowl into the kitchen and left it on the counter for later, he returned to the living room. Vincent was pacing back and forth across the living room floor.

"I'm sorry," Nanaki apologized again. "I didn't realize you were this anxious to get started."

Vincent stopped his pacing and looked at his old comrade in arms. "It's not that. I'm worried about Cid."

Nanaki's mouth fell agape in wonderment. Vincent noticing this said defensively, "Is it that strange that I would be worried about Cid?"

Nanaki shook his head. "I guess not, but it does come as a sort of a surprise to me."

"To me too," Vincent murmured. "But actually it's not about me, it's about Tifa. She adores Cid and would never forgive me if I let anything happen to him."

_I should have known_, Nanaki thought.

"Well, we can't do anything to help him sitting around here worrying," the dark-haired man concluded. "Have you decided where you're going to look today?" he asked.

Nanaki answered, "I thought I would attempt to visit as many sectors as I could that we didn't cover yesterday."

"Good idea," Vincent praised. "Although the less said about what I'm going to do the better."

……….

Bosley and Cid left the train at the exit nearest the old Shin-Ra Tower, which was currently housing the President's office. In fact, Reeve had chosen to use his old office. He enjoyed the irony and also wanted to avoid as much ostentation as he could. It was a miracle that a major portion of the Shin-Ra building had remained intact considering all the damage that Midgar had taken between Avalanche, Shin-Ra itself, and Meteor. Reeve always assumed it was the evil that held it upright.

_But now I'm attempting to use it for something good_, President Reeve thought. He had already been at his desk for two hours and was currently anxiously awaiting his helicopter pilots in order to give them his final briefing.

_I hope I'm doing the right thing_, _but what else can I do_? _I can't just ignore it and say it's impossible_, _not after the things I_'_ve seen_.

The intercom buzzed on his desk phone. Instead of picking it up, the dark-haired President leaned over and placed it on speaker phone. "Yes," he said.

His secretary responded, "Bosley is out here to see you with somebody called Cid Highwind.

_Cid_! _Oh_, _we could certainly use the expertise of Cid_. _I hope this means he is willing to go_. "Send them in!" Reeve exclaimed feeling somewhat happy for a change.

As soon as the two pilots entered his office, Reeve stepped out from around his desk and shook Cid's hand. "Mr. Highwind, how good to see you again. I hope this means you're going with my men. They could certainly use your expert knowledge of the North Cave."

Cid flushed a little, he was not used to compliments from anyone, except for Shera and she didn't count. Uncertain what he should call him and being extremely uncomfortable with calling him President, Cid opted to not use his name at all.

"Certainly, I want to go and please call me Cid," he explained.

"Good," Reeve replied. "How much do you know? And by the way have a seat gentlemen," the President suggested, while returning to the chair behind his desk. Cid and Bosley quickly seated themselves in front of the President's desk.

"I only know that we are going to the North Cave and take a good look around – for what I don't know," the Captain admitted.

Reeve explained, "I was given information by a reliable source that they had been in the North Cave and observed some strange conditions that might indicate that Sephiroth is still alive."

Now having heard what he only suspected since the day before, Cid refused to give credence to it. "Sephiroth!" he exclaimed. "That's impossible."

"Well, my source didn't say  anything for positive," Reeve equivocated. "He'll be here in a few minutes, he's going with you," the dark-haired man continued. 

Just then a knock came upon the door and Reeve declared, "I believe that's him now. Enter," he called out.

Cid wasn't at all surprised by this time when the door opened and Cloud walked in – but where was Tifa?


	7. The Aftermath Chapter Seven

The Aftermath

A Final Fantasy VII Fanfic

By Susycreamcheese

The game of Final Fantasy VII is owned by SquareSoft

Rated R

Chapter Seven

Nanaki set about searching the sectors which had not yet been investigated. Depending on who he spoke with, he heard many conflicting rumors. It was as if all of Midgar had become an urban legend. He even heard a ludicrous tale that Aeris could be restored to life.

In fact, there were several versions of this ridiculous story; the worse one being in his opinion, the tale of a special cure or phoenix materia that would restore her to life. He certainly hoped that Cloud had never heard any of this. He appeared to be having a difficult time accepting her death as it was.

Of course it didn't help that Cloud blamed himself for her death and still felt so guilty over it. Most of this wild speculation was fueled by people believing they could see Aeris in the old church where she had once had her flower garden. And yet they also say if they attempted to approach her, she would disappear.

_Rightfully so,_ Nanaki snorted. _All victims of mass hypnotism, _he thought. He, himself, had gone into the church to look and he hadn't seen anything except for two small children tending to the flowers. What Nanaki didn't realize was he saw what he expected to see. That was the magic of the church.  It was why Aeris had been able to grow flowers there in the first place.

It was a sacred place. It displayed to people what they wanted to see deep within their hearts. Contrary to popular opinion, Cosmo Canyon where Nanaki grew up was not a mysterious place steeped in mysticism, but was totally based on science. People tended to overlook or never knew that Bugenhagen had once been an esteemed Shin-Ra scientist and had much of his equipment installed from those days.

On his morning travels Nanaki did manage to meet an old friend of Tifa's, who told him that Tifa had been fairly disturbed the last time the two of them had spoken.

The woman had long red hair and freckles across an open friendly appearing face. She stood about five feet, six inches tall and said that Tifa had reported that Cloud had been very preoccupied and away quite a bit. Tifa had never said where Cloud had been spending his time.

No, she hadn't spoken to Tifa for a couple of weeks. Nanaki was quickly drawing the conclusion that Tifa was no longer in Midgar.

……….

Cloud exclaimed, "Cid Highwind, how are you and what the heck are you doing here?"

Cid appeared to be standing stunned for a few seconds but, in actuality, he was hoping to see Tifa enter the room after Cloud. Instead of answering Cloud's question, Cid asked, "Where's Tifa?"

Confusion crossed Cloud's features. "What'd you mean where's Tifa? She's probably sleeping right now in her bed."

"No, she ain't," retorted Cid. "Right now Vincent is sleeping in her bed."

"Vincent!" Cloud exploded, his face flush with red. "What's Vincent doing there and what's been going on behind my back?!"

President Reeve stood completely bewildered wondering what had happened to his strategy meeting. "Calm down everyone," the President suggested. "Cloud take a seat, I'm certain we can straighten this out easily enough."

Cloud ignored Reeve completely and stood staring daggers at Cid. "I don't know what happened," the veteran pilot admitted. "Nanaki paid me a visit to tell me that he had discovered you and Tifa were missing. So I volunteered to help him search for you guys. We went to Nibelheim thinking you all might have gone there for a visit and we ran into Vincent. He offered to help too and we returned to Midgar to continue searching for you two."

"Well all I know is," Cloud angrily interrupted, "she was there a week ago when I left."

"Wait, there's more," Cid elaborated. "Vincent broke into Don Corneo's broken down old mansion and not only did he discover evidence that people had been living in there and had turned on the power. He also found Tifa's outfit!"

At Cid's last words it fell deadly quiet in the office. Reeve, who had been waiting patiently to speak so he could get on with the meeting, suddenly lost his voice at this distressing news. Even through his long distance monitoring by his Toysaurus, he had come to greatly appreciate the young woman. Bosley sat silently not really understanding a bit of it, but realizing something insidious had been going on again, possibly involving something to do with a resurrected Shin-Ra.

Images from the past horrors swam in front of Cloud's mako drenched eyes and he suddenly felt lightheaded. He quickly took the chair Reeve had been proffering all along.

……….

After Nanaki left the house for the day, Vincent quickly washed, dried, and replaced the two coffee cups and the cereal bowl in the kitchen cabinet. Looking around and not locating a hand towel, he dried his hands on his cloak.

Vincent left the kitchen and moved to the small downstairs bathroom. He unlatched the rather smallish window, preferring to leave it open rather than the front door. Vincent regretted not remembering to inform Nanaki that he was going to do that, but he realized if his friend returned first he would wait for either Vincent to return or Cid, who had the house key.

The dark-haired man remembered, at the last moment, to take the PHS with him. Vincent left the house making certain the front door was locked and stepped into the street. He had another agenda in mind on this day than the one he had described to his comrades. Vincent still held his cards close to his chest.

He realized he had no real understanding of why he continued to not trust others, even those who had proven themselves trustworthy. Vincent knew on an intellectual basis that Nanaki and even Cid would never do anything intentionally to harm him, but his life experiences had left him so scarred he hadn't been able to push through his fears.

_Maybe that_'_s why I_'_m so desperately looking for Lucrecia_, Vincent realized. _I know I can trust her_.

Unlike what he had explained to Cid and Nanaki, Vincent wasn't going to the topless bars first. He was going to get into the _Honeybee Inn_ by hook or by crook. For one thing, it rankled Vincent that he had been denied admittance and for another thing, he figured there was more of a chance of discovering some information pertinent to the disappearance of Tifa there then in most of the topless bars in the area due to them being mostly institutions of mere sleaziness. Certainly not the type of places that would go to the trouble, not to mention the risk, of kidnapping a beautiful woman who was well known in the area.

Vincent walked gently attempting to be surreptitious and yet keep a watchful eye out at all times. He had done this for so many years as a Turk that it was second nature to him. He certainly was never a typical personality of the Shin-Ra arm of espionage and enforcement. Most of them swaggered through life and then wondered why they were cut down in one way or another.

Reno was the only one he knew of that ilk, who had continued his blustering ways all the way through the complete destruction of his parent organization. Of course Reno and Rude weren't with the Turks that Vincent worked with. They were well after his time. He had run into Reno and Rude at a bar in Wutai one time shortly after the destruction of Sephiroth and Meteor.

_Man, those guys sure could drink_, Vincent remembered. _It_'_s a wonder they don_'_t have one liver left between the two of them_. During the course of the afternoon Reno had become rather maudlin. Rude, on the other hand, was always Rude. It didn't matter how much he drank. A person would have a difficult time knowing when Rude was in his cups.

Of course maudlin for Reno was just normal for most people. The more intoxicated he became, the more he waxed philosophic over all the Turks that had never completed their tour of duty because of being killed. All of them were the kind of arrogant son-of-a-bitch that Vincent himself had always tended to avoid.

Walking back through the newly rebuilt playground, Vincent suddenly was swept by nostalgia as he remembered the carefree days of his youth and playing often on such a playground. Vincent shook his head to clear his thoughts. _I have to get serious here_, he mentally chastised himself.

Walking into Wall Market, Vincent suddenly realized he had been avoiding formulating any plan for his endeavor. _Hmm_, _let_'_s see_, he thought to himself.

………..

After wolfing down a couple of hot dogs for lunch, Nanaki realized he had no idea what he should do next.. He wandered slowly through the remaining sectors looking for anyone who he might know or for any sort of a clue that might help him in his quest.

Finally returning to Sector 7, he was headed in the direction of Tifa and Cloud's bar when he was suddenly accosted by two small boys. "Hey mister," one little towheaded male child of an indiscriminate age that lay somewhere between the ages of six to eight asked. "Do you know when Cloud's getting back?"

Nanaki had already shaken his head in the negative before he realized that these children knew that Cloud had gone somewhere. _I should have known_, he castigated himself. _Of course_, _the children would know him_, _the hero who saved the entire planet_. _And Cloud with his wide open raw emotions and lack of sophistication would be more comfortable with children_.

"Do you know where he went?" Nanaki asked.

"Sure," the small blond haired child responded, "He said he was going to look for his girlfriend. What's her name again?"

"Aerith," his small companion, a dark-haired youth who was slightly shorter replied.

"No, you're wrong. You're lisping again. It's Aeris," the first boy insisted.

When the dark-haired youth began to protest, Nanaki interrupted. "Please, this is important. Did he ever say where he was going?"

"Just somewhere up North, I think," the dark-haired boy answered. As they began to turn away to race up the street to another adventure that only small boys are allowed to participate in, Nanaki asked, "Do either of you know anything about Tifa's disappearance?"

The blond child replied, "Only that she was gone one day after Cloud had left. We figgered maybe she had gone to be with him."

_Oh my Lord_, Nanaki thought, as the two children raced up the street. _He_'_s out looking for Aeris still_; _the poor man_ – _and ever worse_, _poor Tifa_. _But at least this might be good news_. _Although if she had gone to be with Cloud_, _wouldn_'_t she have gotten someone to run the bar_? _Maybe it was an emergency and she had to leave in a hurry_. _But then why would her outfit have been in Don Corneo_'_s old mansion_?

His mind beginning to spin in confusion, Nanaki thought, _I_'_d better wait until Vincent and Cid return so I can tell them what_ _I have learned and discover what they might have uncovered before I attempt to draw any more conclusions_._ I wonder if Cid will be okay and when he might be back_.

……….

Cid asked, "What did you see in the North Cave that made you so suspicious of something, Cloud?"

The pilot was hoping to help Cloud pull himself together by demanding of him to be involved with this morning's business, unless plans had suddenly changed and he wasn't to go with them.

Cloud glanced up at Cid and he still appeared somewhat shocked. "I saw huge deposits of mako that weren't there before and would never occur naturally in that environment," he said softly. "It looked to me as  if someone were gathering it to use in a reactor."

Cloud paused for a long second before speaking again. Cid appeared not at all surprised, while Bosley looked on shocked. Before the blond man could begin again, the receptionist buzzed Reeve's phone again. Reeve hit the conference call button.

"Excuse me, President Reeve. Crowley and Jackson are here for the meeting."

"Well, send them in immediately," Reeve replied testily, a little exasperated that his receptionist had no initiative. After the two pilots had entered the room and seated themselves, Reeve explained to them what had happened so far and then asked Cloud to resume.

"Seeing the mako and suspecting why it was there, I was naturally suspicious. I started searching further down and found evidence that people had been living down there for several days at a time. So I thought maybe Shin-Ra or the Turks are trying to resurrect Sephiroth."

Hearing the word resurrect triggered Cid, who glanced at Cloud shrewdly. "Cloud," the blond haired man asked, "What exactly were you doing down there anyway?"

Cloud's normally pale features heavily flushed, but he remained silent. That was all the answer Cid needed.

_Aeris_! _I should have known_. _He_'_s still screwed up over her_. _Well_, _women_ – _you can't live with _'_em and you can_'_t live with _'_em_.

The President using the lull in the conversation to his advantage outlined to the party what he was hoping they could accomplish while they were in the North Cave. He concluded, "Now don't put yourself at risk any more than absolutely necessary. I want everyone back safe and sound. If you run into anyone wanting to fight I expect the three of you pilots to remain out of the way and let Cloud and Cid handle it. Cid, were you able to bring your weapon with you?" the President asked.

Cid looked at Reeve as though he was observing a mindless vegetable. The very idea that he would ever consider going down into the North Cave without his weapon was ludicrous.

"So what exactly are we looking for down there?" asked Jackie Jackson, the youngest pilot.

"We're looking for Sephiroth," Cloud spoke harshly. He wanted badly to get out of this small office filled to the brim with people. He was feeling claustrophobic because of his increasing anxiety over what could have happened to Tifa.

_We_'_re looking for Aeris_, _don_'_t you mean_? Cid thought cynically. The Captain had a soft spot himself for the pretty Ancient with the reddish-brunette hair, but at the same time, he also realized that no matter how painful it might be to admit, Aeris was dead. The whole thing caused him to feel a great deal of anger toward Cloud. Not only had his wrong-headedness caused Tifa sadness but, now possibly by deserting her, it may have cost her a lot more than that.

"Cid!" Bosley whispered loudly, while digging his elbow lightly into his companion's ribs. "Come on," Bosley stated. "We're leaving."

As they followed after the rest of the party, Thomas asked, "Who were you hating? I've never seen such a look of contempt on your face."

"Huh…um…no it was just some indigestion."

"No, Cid," Bosley contradicted. "I know you and that wasn't the result of something you ate. That was something eating you."

……….

Vincent worked his way through the side streets until he arrived in the back of the _Honeybee Inn_. Glancing around he was gratified to see there was no one in the immediate area watching him. Vincent positioned himself under the fire escape ladder, which was folded in the traditional manner in the air.

He jumped extremely lightly for a man of his size and snared the ladder easily. Vincent brought it down carefully so as to not cause any unnecessary noise. Looking around one more time he climbed up. He knew there would be a fire escape; not because of a threat of fire, but because of a threat of a legal raid in the old days when the Inn was first being established and before all the local authorities had been bought off.

The plan would have been to race up to the second floor as soon as the powers-that-be arrived at the front door and then scurry down the fire escape, because no one would expect them to have one. The second floor was basically empty for that reason.

The dark-haired man lifted up the window carefully from the outside and stepped through it onto the second floor. He was immediately accosted by the sight of a completely nude woman standing with her back to him. Hearing some noise, she quickly turned to face him and demanded, "Who the hell are you?"

Vincent's vision swam and he felt as though he was going to pass out. It was Lucrecia!


	8. The Aftermath Chapter Eight

The Aftermath

A Final Fantasy VII fan fic

Final Fantasy VII characters and locations from said game are owned by SquareSoft.

By Suzy Creamcheese

Rated R for nudity, language, and violence

Chapter Eight

"Lucrecia! What are you doing here?" Vincent couldn't help but ask stupidly, so amazed he was to find her here of all places.

After all, he had come here searching for Tifa and now he stumbled across the object of his long quest. It was truly remarkable how much she still resembled herself of old; her sparkling violet eyes, her beautiful long brown hair.

It was true that her once slender frame was now more fulsome, but Vincent thought she appeared more beautiful than he had ever seen her. He realized that with her standing there completely undressed he should at least have the consideration to turn his head although he was unable to tear his gaze away from her for even a second.

It was almost as if he were afraid if he did turn his head away from her, when he looked back she would have disappeared again.

"Vincent!" Lucrecia said in almost a shudder. "You have to leave here immediately and forget you ever saw me - for your's and my sake." And she began to push him away from her.

"Lucrecia, stop it! What are you doing?" her former lover demanded.

"Vincent, the people who I work for would kill you in a second if they discovered you here. You have been indiscreet in the last few years. They know you're abroad and you are not in favor of them. Now get out of here before they catch you!" Lucrecia said truly angry with him stamping her foot in frustration.

"I can't do that, Lucrecia," Vincent entreated in a serious tone. "I've just found you. I'm not going to turn around and lose you again."

"How long have you been looking for me, Vincent?"

Puzzled he answered, "Over two years."

"Where were you all those long years that I needed you?" the woman asked softly.

The words speared Vincent to the core of his heart. This was exactly the question he had been avoiding within himself. "I didn't think you would want to see me," he attempted to excuse himself.

"Vincent, spare me," Lucrecia responded sarcastically. "You went off to sulk and feel sorry for yourself. You had no thought of me."

When Vincent began to protest, Lucrecia held up her hand. "At least allow me the privilege of being dressed while we debate this. Turn your back like a gentleman and it will just take me a minute."

Vincent was stuck, there was nothing he could do except comply. After a few minutes had passed in which he heard nothing, Vincent asked, "Can I turn around now, Lu?"

When there was no answer Vincent turned around. Lucrecia had vanished. Vincent fell to his knees sobbing. _ Had she really been there or just a product of his overactive imagination? No, wait. He could still smell her perfume that was lingering in the air. She was real; she'd been there; but now she was gone again. _

_____

Cid rode with Bosley in his helicopter. It had been decided there was no use Cid piloting one to transport himself when he could just as well ride with someone else.

Once they had lifted up off the pad and left the official airspace over Midgar Bosley asked, "Who do you suppose Cloud went with?"

"Unless I miss my bet, he went with Jackie Jackson," Cid sighed.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because Jackie's so young Cloud can impress him with his bullshit."

"Man, what'd he do to you? Seduce your sister and then cast her aside? I've never seen you so down on anybody like this before."

"Huh? What're you talking about? I don't have anything against Cloud," Cid denied. "Except of course for this insane search of his to locate Aeris."

"Aeris?!" Bosley exclaimed in amazement. "The girl that Sephiroth killed?"

"The one and the same," Cid answered.

"He's looking for her?! He must be completely loony. She's long dead - right?"

"Yeah, right, but he ain't crazy. He just doesn't want to admit to himself that she's gone," Cid replied.

"Okay, Cid, so he's not crazy, just a bit delusional. Why does he make you so angry then?"

"Hey, lay off, what are you? A fucking shrink?" Cid responded angrily.

Bosley sat silent for a few seconds and then burst out laughing. "A fucking shrink? Haha! You're a riot, Cid. I'm your old friend Bosley who you can't put off when you don't want to answer something by pretending to be angry."

Cid threw up his hands in surrender. "Okay, ok. Cloud frustrates me because he has a perfectly fine young woman at home who loves him dearly and he neglects her and now look what happened because he's chasing around the North Cave - Tifa's disappeared. He doesn't know how lucky he is to have the love of a woman like Tifa."

You sound like you wish it was you," Bosley pointed out. Only an old friend could speak to Cid in that fashion, but he and Bosley went all the way back together to the Shin-Ra Space Program.

"No, of course not….well, who wouldn't want that?"

"Isn't that what you have with this Shera who's staying with you?" Bosley questioned.

"Shera! Hell no! Shera stays with me because she feels so guilty about messing up my one chance of going into space. She misguidedly thinks she has to be my servant for the rest of her life to make up for it. If she really wanted to help me out, she'd just leave," snorted Cid.

"So you say, Cid," Bosley retorted.

"What do you mean by that?"

Bosley just smirked at Cid and that was all that was said between the two of them for the rest of the trip to the North Cave.

_____

Nanaki was just sitting in front of Tifa and Cloud's house, nodding and swishing his tail at flies when he suddenly heard, "What the hell ya doing sleeping in the street, Red? And where is Spike and Tifa? I was just over at that bar of theirs' and some guy said they ain't here and no one knows where they are. What kind of damn nonsense is that?"

_ It's Barret! _ Nanaki thought excitedly.

Granted the relationship between them was often thorny, Nanaki was nonetheless glad to see the huge black man at the present time. Barret was always great if it came to needing a hand in a fight and besides, right now, Nanaki was lonely.

Consequently he greeted Barret sensibly and quickly filled him in as to what had occurred.

"Now ain't that some shit? Well listen, why I came over to see Spike. I was over at Corel this week, you know they still have a ways to go with everything, even after all this time. And the Mayor sidles up to me when I get there and he won't tell me what, he just tells me to keep an eye open for anything that looks weird or strange."

"So I sez to him, sure. And sure enough the first thing I spot right off is a lot of these guys - the miners, ya know - are slipping off for a couple of days at a time without telling anybody and then they come back with a lot of gifts for their families and sporting some heavy Gil besides."

"So I sez to myself, what the fook is going on here? So then next, I'm in the Mayor's office the next morning rapping with him about it when I happen to look out the window and what do I see?"

Barret hesitated so long Nanaki thought he was waiting for an answer, so he ventured, "Snow?"

"Har! Har! You're still a trip, ain't ya Red? No, it wasn't no snow, it was Reno!"

"Reno?!! Are you certain?" Nanaki asked amazed at the news. No one even knew if any of the Turks were still alive, much less anywhere around.

"Of course I'm sure," Barret answered acting just a little put out. "I guess I know what the red-headed pecker head looks like by now. Well, let me tell ya, I busted out of there fast but he saw me coming and he dead split out of there. He was gone up in an helicopter before I was halfway out to him."

"Helicopter?!" Nanaki echoed.

"Am I gonna have to keep telling you everything twice or what?" demanded the huge black man.

"No," Nanaki apologized, "I'm sorry. I was just really surprised. I didn't even know there were any civilian helicopters left."

"Oh don't worry, this weren't civilian. It said _ Shin-Ra _ on the side."

It was then that Barret heard his old comrade curse for the first time ever. "Shit!" Nanaki exclaimed.

______

Vincent finally managed to pull himself together and stand up. No matter how badly he felt, he realized he had to continue on his more recent task of discovering where Tifa had disappeared to.

As much as it hurt him to admit, Vincent didn't even blame Lucrecia. He _ had _ copped out and for a long damn time too. In fact, Vincent had always realized if Cloud and Tifa hadn't happened along that day and opened up his casket bed and then refused to leave him alone to return to his sleep until he had been awake long enough to consider living again, he'd still be in that damn box copping out.

But still it hurt and doubly so because he had never once considered if he actually found Lucrecia that she wouldn't want to see him. _ Life can be damn cruel and it never seems to stop. _

Vincent treaded lightly to the door and pulled it open very slowly while literally peering around it into the hallway to see if Lucrecia had either warned someone of his presence or someone had heard them.

Observing the stairway appeared clear, he crept down them as quietly as he could, although he was certainly big enough and a bizarre enough appearing figure to cause him to realize he had little hope to hide from sight for long.

Vincent had just breathed a short sigh of relief at having at least successfully reached the first floor when he heard to his dismay, "Hey you! What are you doing in here?"

Vincent turned quickly to see the huge doorman from before striding toward him. _ Great, just what I need. Oh well, it can't be helped. If it be done, then it should be done quickly. _

Vincent didn't even waste his breath in attempting to talk sense to this huge animal but instead spent the time, before the man reached him, to regulate his breathing to an even state. When the man began to speak again he was standing approximately five feet from Vincent.

Vincent stepped forward quickly and raised his pointed right footed boot directly up into the man's crotch area very hard! He noticed besides making the doorman to move his hands to his crotch area, it also caused his eyes to look as though they were going to pop right out of his head.

Vincent took this opportunity to join his hands tightly together intertwining his fingers and then bringing them up almost from the floor and hitting the man right under the point of his chin knocking him up, back, and down and out.

Vincent quickly moved around to the top of his head and dragged him into a room that looked as if it were being used as a storage area for a lot of worn out mattresses. Vincent winced remembering he was here looking for Tifa. He now found himself hoping she wasn't here, because if she were, then fate probably hadn't been too kind to her. If that was that case, Vincent vowed he would burn this place to the ground.

Stepping back out of the room his luck held, because it wasn't more than a minute or two later that a head stuck itself out of the business office and glanced around. "Where's Tony?" the head asked.

Vincent took a chance that the young gentlemen he had just personally annihilated was Tony and answered, "I'm filling in for him. He was called away on some personal business."

"Oh, what was that?"

_ Shit! This guy is so nosy. _ "I think it was something to do with his grandmother."

"Oh? That's odd, I thought his grandmother died last year."

The silence that fell seemed fraught with peril as Vincent unsuccessfully racked his brain to come up with something to say.

"Oh yeah, that's right," the other man said. "He has two grandmothers, hehe. Well, keep things calm out there, will ya? We're having a big meeting in here."

"Will do," Vincent replied. _ A big meeting, I wonder what's going on? _

______

Not only did the pilots make certain to land on the lip of the North Cave one at a time, they also made sure they were nowhere near each other. The winds that swirled out of the cave could be very unpredictable and combined with the crosswind that a couple of copters could cause might take a landing which was perilous enough as it was and turn it into a disaster.

After the three helicopters put down and shut off entirely, Cid and Bosley exited first. Then Cloud clambered out followed by Jackie Jackson. Jenkins Crowley was the last to exit his machine and the first to gather everyone together.

Nominally the tall thin, dark-haired man had been chosen by the President to be the leader of the group, but everyone involved realized unspokenly that Cid and Cloud were the actual leaders.

As Jackie Jackson asked Jenkins a question, Cid looked beyond them and down into the North Cave from which mist was escaping and he actually shuddered at the thought of re-entering that evilness. Cid felt as though someone was walking across his grave. He recalled the vow he made to himself to never return here no matter what and he hoped he didn't come to rue changing his decision. 


	9. The Aftermath Chapter Nine

The Aftermath

A Final Fantasy VII Fanfic

By Susycreamcheese

The game of Final Fantasy VII is owned by SquareSoft

Rated M

Chapter Nine

Tifa sat shivering, cold and lonely, in a subterranean cell that was just one of many along a lengthy cell block. As she idly glanced around her cell for the umpteenth time, which only consisted of a metal bunk built into the wall, a sink, and a toilet bowl with no lid, Tifa wondered why her clothes had needed to be removed and taken from her.

_Are they just perverts or was it to possibly make my attempts at escape more difficult?_

Tifa only knew it was very embarrassing and humiliating to stand in front of her cell door in only her bra and panties when the male guards came in to deliver her meals. Their gaze always swept her nearly naked form with lust and they always wore a smirk, as they thrust the tray of almost uneatable slop through the slot in her cell door.

She had been shocked to discover the guards had been attired in the old uniforms of Shin-Ra and decided that the rumors of the reemergence of Shin-Ra hadn't been a urban legend after all. Tifa had no way of knowing that her apparel had been removed and left behind hopefully for Cloud to discover them in his search for Tifa. Inefficiently her kidnappers had not realized at the time that Cloud was presently out of town.

She had questioned her guards constantly and they always just stared back at her blankly without responding in the least. _They're probably just flunkies anyway and don't know anything about why I'm here,_ Tifa reasoned at last.

She kicked herself mentally over and over for falling for the oldest trick in the book. _But it had looked like Cloud's writing!_ Tifa lamented. _How was I to know?_

The day after Cloud informed her that he was returning to the North Cave, because of his suspicions concerning the attempts of someone to restore Sephiroth to the land of the living, Tifa had awoke to discover a note on the kitchen table.

It appeared written in Cloud's almost illegible scrawl and asked her to meet him at Don Corneo's old mansion. Since Tifa was used to strange requests from Cloud and also that the note had been lying on the table in her locked house, she automatically assumed the note was genuine.

Tifa hurried to get dressed and rushed off on her mission, because the note had demanded that she meet with him in thirty minutes hence. At least one of her abductors must have been hidden outside the mansion, because as soon as Tifa pushed open the front door, someone stepped up behind her and pressed a chloroformed soaked cloth over her face.

_And that was all she wrote,_ Tifa thought ruefully. The next she knew, the dark-haired young woman regained consciousness in the locked cell, minus her outer clothing.

_What am I doing here? What do they want from me? And where is Cloud?_

At that particular moment, Cloud and Cid were standing in front of the helicopter pilots, who were waiting further instructions. The group of five had already scrambled down the short slope to the entrance of the North Cave.

As Cid stood waiting for Cloud to explain his plans, he realized he had serious misgivings about his former flying cohorts accompanying them; although he realized he had no real say in the matter. Reeve had ordered them to investigate the area and after all he was only along for the ride. Cid just hoped that they didn't get injured or, worse, get in Cloud's and his way in case of a fight.

Cloud finally spoke, as if he had been thinking heavily of what he was to say, although Cid realized he was just being his usual shy self in front of strangers. "Okay, from here on out, it's extremely dangerous."

_Good_, Cid thought, as he observed the group of pilots stiffened considerably in their body postures at the sound of Cloud's warning.

"We could be ambushed by whoever has been down here or attacked by monsters at any time. In case of a fight, attempt to take cover and let me and Cid handle it. I'll go point and Cid will bring us up from the rear. Is that okay?" he asked, looking at Cid.

As Cid nodded in the affirmative, Cloud asked him, "Do you have any materia?"

"Are you kidding? I haven't any need for that stuff for two years."

"Here," Cloud said, flipping Cid a mastered Wall materia. "I'll take Restore."

After Cloud had popped the materia into his armor, he lead the group down the rocks leading to the entrance. They hurried past the first few pairs of Gargoyles that were usually encountered at the beginning of the crater. The Gargoyles were totally defended against attack, both physical and magical, until they sprang to 'life.' Both Cloud and Cid realized it was totally useless to waste any time or energy on them. The pop-eyed appearance of the pilots as Cloud glanced backwards was not wasted on him. He knew they would probably be next to useless if it came to a battle with monsters. It suddenly occurred to him that their presence could turn out to be a heavy price to pay just to have transportation there.

_Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut and tried to handle it on my own._

"By the way," Cloud said. "If we see any Master Tonberrys, we're going to run from them. They're pretty slow, but extremely dangerous to mess with."

Cid noticed from his position at the very back of the party that Jackie Jackson, the youngest of the three pilots, had shivered slightly at Cloud's latest warning.

_He ain't talking so loud now, is he?_ Cid thought sardonically, remembering the young man's rather bold manner while in the bar on the previous day.

Thirty minutes later, the party of five were standing on a much lower level. To travel any further would be to enter the place where they had fought Sephiroth in their final battle. On their passage downwards, Cid was astonished to observe that massive construction had been completed within the deeper recesses in the form of staircases and concrete flooring.

"Damn, what's been going on here?" Cid muttered.

Cloud slightly nodded at the former Captain in acknowledgement that he had heard his rhetorical question and then he pointed to his right and spoke, "There's the mako I was telling you about."

Cid, along with the other three pilots, turned in the direction that the spiky-haired young man was pointing. Upon observing the bright crystalline beauty of the mako, Cid was struck by the irony that something that appeared so pretty and could be so beneficial to mankind could leave such a path of death and destruction in its wake.

"From what you said Cloud, it looks as if they've built some more of the reactor," Bosley Thomas pointed out.

"Yeah," Cloud agreed, while stepping over towards it. "They've made good progress since I was here last."

"What the hell are they trying to do, do you think, Cloud?" Cid asked boisterously. "Are they really thinking they can resurrect Sephiroth?"

"Well, remember, we don't really know what happened to Sephiroth," Cloud replied thoughtfully. "I mean I'm certain I killed him, but we never had the chance to find his dead body. I guess if Shin-Ra has proved anything in the past, it's that as far as they're concerned, they can pull off some pretty amazing stuff."

"I doubt they went to all this trouble to try to resurrect Aeris, for instance," Bosley Thomas suddenly spoke sarcastically.

Cid couldn't miss that the off hand comment caused Cloud to flinch momentarily and his eyes narrowed in fury. Fearing one of Cloud's _schizy_ attacks, Cid quickly turned to Bosley and shook his head sharply at him.

Catching his longtime friend's drift immediately, Bosley murmured, "Sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect."

Cloud nodded, but didn't respond verbally to the apology. Instead he turned and ordered tersely, "Come on, let's go look around."

After fanning out and investigating an adjacent area, the group immediately observed what Cloud had already mentioned. There was ample evidence that somebody had been living there. Although there was presently no sign of any tents or sleeping bags, there were remains of many soda cans, empty pizza boxes and empty containers of field army fare.

"Wow!" Jackie Jensen softly exclaimed. "Someone has certainly been living here for an extended period." Suddenly realizing they could still be around, he glanced nervously all around the perimeter of the _camp site_.

Cid wandered idly over to one of the field rations and picked it up for a closer inspection. "Shin-Ra," he read aloud.

That one word caught everyone's attention. Cloud had wandered away unnoticed in his search for further clues.

"Shin-Ra!" Jackie echoed, with fear in his voice.

Cid glanced around to evaluate Cloud's reaction and it was then that he noticed his former comrade had disappeared. "Where's Cloud?" he loudly asked.

"I saw him go over there," Bosley answered, pointing to some large volcanic rock formations.

"Everybody, follow me," Cid ordered. "We don't want to become separated down here."

The former pilot led the rest of the party quickly around Cloud's last seen location and were stunned to observe Cloud leaning over and digging through rubble with his bare hands finally emerging with a huge sword. Cloud straightened up and held the sword up in front of his face and his eyes suddenly clouded over indicating he was no longer in touch with his immediate reality. The young blond haired man was shaking violently.

_That's Sephiroth's sword_! Cid thought. _The Masamune_. Fearing for the spiky haired man's safety and more importantly his sanity, Cid cried out, "Cloud! Put that down – now!"

Cloud's behavior indicated that he hadn't understood or even heard Cid's command, but instead just stood there dreamily until Cid ripped the weapon from Cloud's grasp and threw it onto the ground. Cloud immediately woke up from his trance and glanced around confusedly.

Cid pointed to the sword lying at his former comrade's feet. "Sephiroth's," is all the former pilot said.

Cloud knelt down by it and examined it as closely as he could without actually touching it. "This appears brand new," he spoke. "Not a nick or tarnish on it."

"How is this possible?" Bosley asked in some panic. "What would it be doing here?"

Cloud glanced up at the frightened helicopter pilot before he spoke. "Sephiroth used to leave these around as if they were his personal calling cards. Although I have to admit, even if it was left here from when we fought him, I don't know why it would look so new."

Cid, correctly reading the feelings of disquietude that had swept over the trio of helicopter pilots, suggested, "Shouldn't we go back and report to Reeve? Personally, I'm gettin' the creeps."

Cloud stood and offered a rare smile. "Yeah, let's go."

After the party had left the immediate area, a lone figure stood up from his hiding place. He smiled at the thought that things were continuing to develop nicely. He took out his PHS and after a few seconds began to speak into it.

In the Honeybee Inn front lobby, Vincent treaded lightly on the balls of his feet over to the door. With his heart in his throat, he pressed his ear closely to the door. The voices speaking within were muffled, but the dark-haired man was able to make out most of the main points.

_"How is the building of the reactor proceeding?"_

_"They appear to be right on schedule, but I'm adding another work crew regardless."_

_"Good," _the first voice said. _"And Cloud? Are we still maintaining a close watch on him?"_

_"Yes, as a matter of fact, I just received word that he was in the North Cave today with some of Reeve's helicopter pilots."_

_"What!"_ the first voice exclaimed. _"Is that wise? We're not ready to proceed yet."_

_"Relax, they were monitored every second. In fact, they've already left. But we have another problem. Someone said Vincent has been spotted in Wall Market asking around for Tifa."_

_"What? Is that freak still around?"_ a new voice spoke harshly. _"Well, never mind. I'll take care of him myself."_

Vincent immediately recognized the speaker as Reno. _I'd know that voice anywhere. So the Turks are involved in this. I should have known._

The first voice cautioned, "Now don't go off half-cocked, Reno. Use some discretion. We don't want anyone to get wind of this before we're ready to put our plans into operation."

"What'd you mean by that, Corneo? I'm always careful," Reno angrily retorted.

_Corneo! Alive! How is that possible?_ Vincent wondered. _I saw him shot and then he plunged off the cliff._

"Now, now, Reno," Don Corneo attempted to placate the angry former Turk. "I didn't mean to imply that you're not. It's just that my benefactor is certain we will make our move in less than a week's time and we surely don't want to do anything that will upset the apple cart."

"And that's another thing," Reno said. "When are we going to meet this mysterious boss of yours?"

"When the time is right," Don Corneo answered. "I'm assuring you, all will be complete within a week's time."

"It damn well better be," Reno muttered. "I'm getting sick and tired of all this hiding out and waiting around."

Apparently, Vincent realized, Don Corneo was not going to be drawn into any further argument with Reno as the dark-haired man heard Corneo say, "This meeting is adjourned unless someone has a pressing need to share new information. I have a scrumptious little honey waiting for me upstairs."

Vincent automatically winced, knowing fully well of Corneo's sexual peccadilloes, particularly in the area of pedophilia with young girls. And then, God forgive him, he found himself hoping it _was_ some underage teenage baggage rather than his beloved Lucrecia.

The former freedom fighter stood frozen with that horrible thought roaring through his consciousness until he belatedly realized from the sounds of chairs being pushed back that the inhabitants of the room were preparing to leave.

_I've got to get the hell out of here_! Vincent realized. He literally jumped the staircase down to the entrance floor in two bounds and was just darting through the door when he heard Don Corneo exclaim, "Hey, where's Tony? He's supposed to be watching out here."


End file.
